Charting the Course


The Twenty First Century Classrom:


Blogs, wikis, digital-storytelling, podcasting...the classroom is no longer restricted to four physical walls, and it is becoming a truly collaborative space in which to learn. The networked classroom is a more complicated place for teachers, but it's also one filled with incredible potential for learning. This presentation will give an overview of the exciting new tools and information available for arts learning.


Will Richardson
weblogged@gmail.com

Some Quotes to Think About:

"It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change" – Charles Darwin
"The illiterate of the 21st Century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." -- Alvin Toffler
"Sometimes traveling to a new place leads to great transformation" --Fortune Cookie from PF Chang's, Austin, TXexternal image 20080213-db6kk9anm1bpm64k6yte82rp1s.jpg
“In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists” — Eric Hoffer
"The kind of questioning, collaborative, active, lateral rather than hierarchical pedagogy that participatory media both forces and enables is not the kind of change that takes place quickly or at all in public schools." -- Howard Rheingold

My Lenses:

The Big Premise:
This is a very challenging moment for educators. Our children are headed for a much more networked existence, one that allows for learning to occur 24, 7, 365, one that renders physical space much less important for learning, one that will challenge the relevance of classrooms as currently envisioned, and one that challenges our roles as teachers and adult learners.

The Challenge: The Read/Write Web
  • It's as easy to create and publish content as it is to consume it.
  • "Web 2.0"

As a Result:
  • "Hypertransparent and hyperconnected world." Dov Seidman, How
  • “This is a period of prolonged and profound transition in the ways we relate to communication and information.” Henry Jenkins
  • Politics, media, business, governments are all shifting.
  • In just a decade’s time, we’ll have gone from half the world never having made a telephone call to half the world owning a phone. (Mark Pesce)
  • UNESCO says there will be more "educated people" in the next 30 years than in the sum of human history to date. (Cited in the TED Talks video with Sir Ken Robinson.)
  • The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that most American workers will change jobs between 10 and 14 times by age 38.

The Web is Challenging Traditional Approaches to Learning, Knowledge and Teaching

The Opportunities:
  • Our opportunity to use these tools and shifts in creative ways is huge.
  • We can funnel the arts through the passions of our students.
  • We can help our students create "original ideas that have value." (Sir Ken Robinson)

Tools and Sites to Consider:
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Arts education is integral to preparing our students for a world that looks decidedly different from the present:
  • More collaborative
  • Passion-based
  • Transparent
  • Digital
  • People oriented
  • Networked